Sprouts such as alfalfa sprouts have become a very popular food due to their taste and the nourishment and protein which they provide. They are used in large quantities in places like salad bars and health food stores. They are also available in grocery stores.
Alfalfa sprouts will spoil if they are not cleaned and freed of hulls. They also spoil from breakage. When they spoil they turn unsightly and develop an unpleasant smell. Alfalfa sprouts are grown from seeds and germinate without planting in soil. The conventional process for growing alfalfa sprouts is to spread them and water them while they grow, leaving the hulls and ungerminated seed with the sprouts. The hulls and ungerminated seed cause spoilage. A brown spot the size of a quarter will grow to the size of an orange in one hour during the summer time. The smell of the fermenting hulls and seeds is very noticeable and brown mush develops.